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We had less trick-or-treaters than expected this year, and I think I know at least one reason why: our doorbell's battery is dead . . . I think. At least, it doesn't work when we press it, as we found out when some friends stopped by, used the doorbell, then waited and waited before switching to knocking.

They thought our doorbell issue may be causing us to inadvertently snub the youth of America on their sugar quests. I removed the ringer from the front of the house, forcing future trick-or-treaters to knock for their sugar.

So what happens? The doorbell rings 5 minutes later! With no ringer! What's up with that? did a ghost ring it?

Time for a new doorbell.

Carly and I drove to Mora, Minneaota this morning so Carly could run the Mora 1/2 Marathon as part of her Twin Cities Marathon training. Around Forest Lake, the low fuel light came on, but we were running a bit late after a slow start to the day, so we pushed on. There was a gas station at the Hwy 70 exit from I-35 we had to take (British Polluters), but with less than 30 to race start, we pushed on. By the time we turned North on Hwy 65 for the last few miles to Mora the needle was below empty. A gas station sat on the edge of town, but Carly made me keep friving so she would?lt miss her start. I reminded her that her bike was in the car, should we run out of gas. Luckily, we made it, but not without some stress. I put 15.8 gallons in the 16 gallon tank. In the past, I've joked with Carly about being low on fuel, saying that we have enpugh gas to get to Hinckley when the gas light comes in. Well, it turns out that's true.

This is the crap that makes newspapers painfully annoying to me. A headline on the homepage of StarTribune.com takes me to a PR piece about the supposed rise in the use of paver stones in residential landscaping. Check out the following paragraph. Who talks like this?

A step beyond concrete

Hanson is among the growing number of homeowners who are rejecting cold, concrete slabs for warmer, more sophisticated alternatives to outfit the outdoor rooms they use for entertaining and relaxing. Natural stone and concrete pavers are not only being used for patios, they're shaping walkways. And pavers are even covering that gigantic welcome mat -- the driveway.

Why shoulld I have to wade through crap like this to find actual news? Actually, I don't have to, which is why I rarely turn to the homepage of the Star Tribune for news.

I just watched Chemlawn dump a bunch of chemicals on my neighbor's lawn. How long will it be before they let their one-year-old crawl all over their newly chemicalized lawn?

Developing . . .

While out for a casual bike ride around South Minneapolis neighborhoods today, I heard a young girl yelling from the back of a bike coming toward me. She was on one of those 3rd wheel trailers attached to her mom's bike. As I got closer, I could make out what she was saying while pointing at me:


Yep, I was being called dumb by a random girl on a bike. Why? Her mom's response to her daughter explained it:


I thought about circling around to tell the girl that she's right, and I actually ordered a new one on Amazon last week, but instead biked home in shame after being called out the biking do-gooder.

Ever since I first heard the Chili Peppers cover the Red Hots song, I thought the line was "Two for a nickel, three for a dime" which makes no sense. Why would I buy a dime's worth of red hots if I'm going to get less than two nickel's worth?

After around 15 years, I Googled the lyrics and it turns out it's "two for a nickel, FIVE for a dime." Now that makes sense.

Now where I can get some red hots for 5 for a dime these days?

Here's my take on Britney Spears getting pregnant again:

Providing a fertile landscape for Kevin Federline does not seem like a smart move. Once is bad enough. I hope this isn't some kind of "save the marriage" by having another kid trick.

Firing the Nanny: Britney made a smart move firing the nanny who dropped her son Sean on his head, creacking his skull. That gains her some parenting cred, although taking a week or so to take the child to the doctor was about as irresponsible as it comes.